


It’s your birthday with or without you

by reelgin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Sirius Black, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen, James Potter is a Good Friend, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black's Birthday, Young James Potter, Young Sirius Black, fluffy otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27048097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reelgin/pseuds/reelgin
Summary: Sirius's lucky that his best friend loves birthdays and parties so much. Otherwise he might have missed some of his own birthdays.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter
Kudos: 8





	It’s your birthday with or without you

Sirius woke up disoriented. It took him some time to recognize the silk sheets, the contours of a half-open wardrobe and heavy draperies: he was in his bedroom.

Relieved that he wasn’t kidnapped he snuggled back in the pillow. It didn’t give him much relief though, his head felt heavy, like he hadn’t slept at all.

His mind was filled with a series of bizarre images: flashes of spells, a duel, thousands of ministry employees standing in the straight lines, Moody with a satisfied smile. _Moody with a satisfied smile?_ This part definitely seemed like a dream.

Knowing that he was unlikely to fall back asleep, Sirius sluggishly sat up and glanced at the bedside table clock. It showed 8 PM. 

_Impossible. It must be broken._ _How long I was in bed anyway?_

Although his memories of getting in bed were hazy he was sure that he couldn’t have gotten to sleep earlier that 7 PM, which meant he only slept for an hour.

Sirius groaned and headed to the bathroom trying to establish what had happened before he fell asleep.

He vaguely remembered a concerned-looking James side-apparating him to the house.

Did he have too much to drink yesterday?

Now, that was highly unlikely. Sirius had a hangover exactly once in his life and it had taken him ungodly amounts of firewhiskey to reach this point. His family genes gave him a strange immunity to alcohol, one of the rare perks of being a Black, in his opinion.

So, the hangover was out of the question. Why had he needed James’ help then?

Sirius dumbly stared at his reflexion and then froze.

“The exam!” he hissed to himself.

Just before James transported him home he had passed an exceptionally hard exam at the Auror Academy. The exam that for the first time in his life made him nervous about the outcome.

A week of doing nothing but intense preparation was also a first for him.

Despite his classmates and teachers’ opinions Sirius actually studied when it was needed. Nobody can stay a top student relying only on talent and good memory. But even when he had to buckle down for NEWT he was sure he’d get at least an ‘Exceeds Expectations’. So he never quite grasped the drama and the worry his classmates surrounded the exams with.

The intensive course at the Auror Academy coupled with an unexpectedly long Order mission introduced him to the exam frenzy.

_Merlin's pants, I hope James doesn’t tell anybody about this episode._

Sirius was ridiculously attached to his reputation of an effortlessly intelligent person.

Still somewhat dazed he left the bathroom day-dreaming about a nice hot cup of tea and then stopped in the middle of a step.

There were voices downstairs.

His drowsiness gone in a second Sirius felt the familiar rush of energy before a duel.

The three months of training had taught him one thing: be immediately alert at a slightest possibility of danger.

In theory strangers shouldn’t be able to enter without his knowledge. In practise, of course, any protection wards could be tampered with. Especially the wards of an auror trainee with no big love for protection techniques in the first place. Attack was more his style, anyway.

Sirius tiptoed downstairs wand at the ready. The voices were loud, it seemed the intruders didn’t even try to hide their presence. Why, though? Were they a group of overly confident Death Eaters, here to kill a bloodtraitor? Or Luciana, his auror teacher, who had a habit of breaking in and surprising the trainees just to keep them in shape. Although she always did it alone…

His dilemma got resolved as he had gotten closer: the loud voices belonged to his friends. His muscles untangled in relief. 

He turned the corner into a sitting-room still not taking away his wand. Just in case.

A scene around the table reminded him either a Mad Hatter’s tea party or a casual Marauders’ get-together. They didn’t differ that much anyway.

James, Remus, Peter and Lily were lounging around a big oval table clearly set to host some kind of celebration. There were several plates with various hors d’oeuvres, flying wine bottles enchanted to fill empty glasses, and a big plate with two leftover slices of cake. It seemed they were having a party without him. In his house. 

James who, for some reason, had dog ears on his head noticed their reluctant host the first. 

“Morning, sleeping beauty!” he cried with a huge grin.

“It’s more like night…” muttered Remus.

“Details, Moony, details!” 

Sirius opened his mouth and stopped not knowing what he wanted to say. If only his stumbling thoughts would stop and allow to formulate a question. Beside his general confusion there was a small part of him that screamed to make sure that his friends were really his friends and not someone under a polyjuice. Surely it would make him sound paranoid. 

His inner struggle must have appeared on his face because James said:

“I’m a stag, Pet’s a rat. Jilin Eyns in seventh year tried to…”

“Ok, I got it. It’s definitely you.” stopped him Sirius, feeling reassured. “What’s going on? What are you all doing here?”

For some reason they found his question extremely funny and burst out laughing. James was clutching his sides.

Irritated at being left out of the joke Sirius looked at Remus for a clarification but he too was busy laughing his head off.

After what seemed like ages James loudly let out the air and still slightly chuckling said:

“Oh, you know us. We just felt like eating lots of tasty food and decided to gather together in your place. No special occasion. Not like it is…”

“Was…”

“Damn!” swore James looking at the clock which showed 1AM. “Was your birthday! I hoped we’d catch at least several minutes of it!”

“What are you on about? My birthday is in a day.”

This statement was met with a loud chortle from James.

“Nope.”

The others around the table looked at Sirius with a mix of compassion and amusement.

“You are having me on…”

“Oh! I wish I had orchestrated this prank, Pads! But the sad truth is you overslept your own bloody birthday.”

Sirius stood with a disbelieving look on his face.

“I understand why you might be reluctant to believe him but it’s the truth. Honestly.”

“You’ve been dating James for a year, Lils. Sorry, but you’ve lost all the credibility you might have had.” replied Sirius automatically still processing the news.

He overslept his own birthday. Which meant…

“Wait! I’ve slept for two days?”

“Yeah. Sorry, mate.”

“We’ve been debating whether to wake you up or not since we’ve busted in for a surprise party but…”

His utter dismay must have appeared on his face because his so-called friends felt something akin to compassion and stopped their blabbering.

“No matter. Sit down, time’s a relative concept anyway.”

“Yeah, in America it’s still your birthday!”

Someone tugged him to the table.

Sirius had to admit that his friends were incredibly efficient at restarting a party (especially taking in account the amount of empty bottles in the corner).

In just a moment dirty plates vanished from the table, lights went out and the remains of a cake were replaced with a new one which seemed to be made specifically for him. A big chocolate cake in the form of a motorbike with multicoloured candles on top.

He didn’t have the time to appreciate it though. Everyone was waiting for him to make a wish and blow the candles.

***

 ****2** ** ****November 1978** **

“…He forgot his own birthday because of the exams! Padfoot. Studying for exams. If that’s not a reason for a high alert I don’t know what is!” James was talking about the subject for several minutes already, but his agitation didn’t seem to lessen. 

The rest of their small company was sitting around the table and listening to his rant with detached attention.

The war was taking its toll on their time and energy. The October turned out so grueling and filled with the Death Eaters’ attacks that they rarely met outside of the Order business.

So they didn’t share James’ fervor about missing a birthday. It seemed unimportant compared to the problems they had to face straight out of school.

”What do you suggest?” cut to the core Remus.

“We should make him a surprise party, of course” said James with conviction.

His idea was met with a stunned silence.

Lily bit her lip with a dubious expression, Peter looked at his shoes like he did when he didn’t want to express a contrary opinion and Remus… well, Remus looked guilty but resigned. He took a deep breath and was about to pronounce his This Prank Won’t Work speech but James beat him to it.

“Look, I know everyone is too busy with the bigger stuff. Neither of us has time. We are constantly on alert and Moody is droning on about constant vigilance. But you know what? If we are being honest this war might take another five years. And that’s our youth for Merlin’s sake! Don’t you think that having fun when we can is important as well? I’ m not willing to miss my friend’s birthday because of some slimy bastard on a power trip! We are letting him win if we stop living our lives!”

James made eye contact with each of them not perturbed by their still reluctant faces. He had no doubt they would come around.

“We have a lot of things to plan then.” smiled Lily. She found James irresistible when he was in the confident leader mood.

“Great!” smiled back her boyfriend. “You don’t need to do much actually, just show up for the party and maybe help with the planning if you are feeling up to it.”

Organizing a surprise party in a day, when the world was going mad was not a small feat.

First, James was forced to diminish his expectations. He was itching to do something cool and unforgettable but all his ideas seemed undoable at such a short notice.  
  
Then was an even more difficult part: guests. He had a huge battle with Remus over this. James wanted to make a huge party with everyone they knew invited. Remus objected that Sirius would not want so many people to know the location of his house. An argument that James couldn’t beat much to his disappointment.

After they drew a list of people who had been to Sirius’ house and then crossed out those who couldn’t come due to health problems (James’ parents), important mission (Marlene and Caradoc) or an ardent desire to lie low (the Tonkses) they’ve realized that the only guests they could invite were themselves. 

That wasn’t exactly what James had envisioned but he had to agree.

Even if he was forced to make some concessions James determined to make his mate’s birthday an unforgeterfull event.

After all Sirius had never had a surprise party organized for him, he had always been the organizer himself. His mates’ birthdays, house parties…Ever since getting a birthday cake in the morning of his first year at school he relished at celebrations. In a way he seemed to compensate for all the stiff upper-class parties he has been made to attend at home. 

**

 ****3 November** ** ****1978** **

The next evening James went to Sirius’ with the intention to drag his best mate out as quickly as possible. His part of a ‘mission’ was to make sure Sirius stayed out of the house till everything was ready.

Since his friend wasn’t answering the mirror James simply apparated on the doorstep. Knocking twice out of courtesy, he unlocked the door.

 _His own fault for giving me the key if he’s with someone._ Thought James wryly.

Sirius was on a three-day break from the auror training and all the Order business (Moody himself told not to bother Black for some time).

Strangely enough James didn’t know what he would find inside: he wasn’t sure what his friend would do with the free time. Go to a rock concert, ride a bike - most of those activities would include his mates – Sirius didn’t like solitude.

The inside of the house was covered in the evidence of Sirius’ recent studying binge.

The large dining room which Padfoot rarely used for its original purpose was transformed into a study. A rather unconventional study. An oval table which took half the space was perfectly clean and empty except for a half-finished cup of coffee on the side. The wall was a charmed mind map. The floor and an old cupboard however resembled a battlefield. All in all, it was almost fifty/fifty mix of organization and chaos.

James peeked into the kitchen. It was a huge mess: discarded packages, unwashed plates in the sink and in the rubbish bin, half-finished cups of coffee. An empty box of the energizing potion with a ‘Sleep is for muggles’ slogan was standing next to muggle’s energy drink promising ‘a magical boost of energy’.

James moved upstairs.

 ****7** ** ****minutes later** **

“I’m telling you, Rem, he’s not waking up. I’ve tried everything. Every dirty trick you’ve used on us at school. … Yes, even that one! He just mumbled some curse and then dropped back to sleep… What? Oh, no. No, I don’t think so. He’s just tired, probably… It’s not a hangover, I know the signs! ... St. Mungo?! Are you barmy?! No, we’ll just give him some more time to sleep. Shouldn’t be long now. We’ll have to reschedule the party for later apparently! 9 PM would do, I think. I’ll just… wait here, I guess.”

****8.37 PM** **

“Yeah, just come here, I think. He’ll be surprised enough by our presence. Damn, I wanted so much to make a classic surprise party with leading him away, making him believe that everyone forgot about his birthday, but the stupid git forgot about it himself! Honestly! I have half a mind to forget about it as well.”

****9.25 PM** **

The marauders and Lily were fast and efficient in decorating the house and putting together the diner.

In just an hour the dining room looked a lot like the Gryffindor common room during a party.

The only problem was the birthday boy himself who still was asleep.

The four of them gathered next to his bed to decide what to do.

“It has been how long now? 30 hours?” asked Rem in a cornered voice.

“Ehhm… mate? Are you even alive?”

Peter superstitiously poked his sleeping friend with a colorful candle.

“Should we try enervate?”

“Don’t be jerks, boys. If he’s been sleeping this long apparently he needs it.”

“I need to eat already! How come you don’t want to?”

“Well James’s been cooking the most of it. You have to taste everything to make sure it’s all right. And I was helping him.”

“Good strategy, that. I’d rather do that than charm the fireworks I’m still not sure I got it right.”

“I’m not sure you would like to join them, Peter. They had what I’d call a ‘special atmosphere’ in the kitchen.”

Peter snickered. They lapsed in silence looking at Sirius thoughtfully.

Finally James sighed and proposed the plan of action:

“You know what? Let’s go and celebrate his birthday! We’ll let him sleep as a birthday present.”

**

They put aside Sirius’ special cake (strawberry biscuit with a chocolate bike on it) and ordered the replacement.

The other food didn’t get the special treatment. Tired after a day of labour they tucked in.

Any guilt they might have felt evaporated with a second wine glass.

James transfigured cups into dog ears and announced that they would throw a coin to decide who’s going to represent Padfoot for an hour. What the Padfoot substitute was supposed to be doing wasn’t clear. Still putting on the ears and trying to copy their friend’s intonations was extremely funny. Especially with Cabernet Sauvignon in the stomach. Remus sarcastically proposed to substitute their friend with a plastic doll which provoked a litany of bawdy jokes.

Then Lily proposed to be more productive and use the time Sirius was asleep to make something nice for him. For example, take small pieces of parchment, write what they loved about Sirius on them and then hide them around the house so that Sirius would stumble on them unexpectedly. The rest of them took to the idea.

By the time Sirius appeared in the dining room they were into their fourth bottle of wine and retelling school anecdotes.

***

 ****3** ** ****November 1979** **

Sirius made his way to the kitchen hoping that he hadn’t run out of coffee. That would spoil the morning of what he already expected to be a dreary day. He was part of the team stationed in the Knockturn Alley which meant standing on the corner disguised as a beggar and hoping that something notable would happen before he dies from boredom. Truly, the only thing that kept him moving today was the prospect of small get-together in honor of his birthday at the Potters’ house.

He turned the corner and stopped in his tracks.

His dining room looked almost the same as on his previous birthday. The same decorations and the table with half-finished food. The only difference was now there was only James sitting on the table. He was teaching the balloons to play hop-and-scotch by the looks of it.

“What the hell?” asked Sirius with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Could he have missed another birthday? 

“Oh, morning, sleeping beauty!” James hopped off the table with a grin on his face. “You know, it’s becoming ridiculous! I’m starting to think that you deliberately miss your birthdays.”

Sirius blinked owlishly.

“And, yeah, it’s definitely me, I can turn into a stag.” James quickly added out of habit. “Isn’t it déjà vu, mon ami?”

“It’s not possible…”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well. But alas! I’m campaigning to change your name from Padfoot to something more fitting your sleeping habits. Look it’s already dark outside.”

Sirius looked at the window. James wasn’t lying: it was dark. There was a pause with Sirius suspiciously looking around and James biting his lips.

“Now wait a moment, it actually is not possible! Moody would have skinned me alive if I hadn’t turned up today.” exploded Sirius. “And you look too self-satisfied for it not to be a prank! You ARE having me on!”

“What about the night outside the window? Is it also having you on?” asked James trying to bite back a smile.

“Oh, you charmed it somehow or created an illusion! There is a whole library section on this subject!”

James was grinning from ear to ear.

“Well, not that I expected to lead you on for too long…”

Sirius breathed out with relief.

“I’m starting to think I should ward my house against you.” he said trying to act irritated but he too couldn’t contain a smile when he realized one small but important fact.

“Did you really put so many complicated and tricky charms just to prank me?”

James bowed with a flourish.

“Mr Prongs, at your service.”

***

****Late October**** ** **1981****

Sirius looked at the shopping list twice and then asked with a satisfied smirk:

“Could you add more cinnamon, please?”

Lily swore under her nose.

“Told you he’d sniff it out!” groaned James.

Ever practical Lily wasn’t deterred for long though:

“You know what, since you figured it out anyway, how about you also buy strawberries and some other things we left out because it seemed too obvious.”

“Deal. I’m not sure I’ll make it to yours on the 3rd, though.”

“Oh do not worry. We know how celebrate your birthday without your illustrious presence. We had a lot of practice.”

“Still it would be great. Harry’d be excited to see you.”

***

****3 November 1981** **

In a destroyed cottage under a pile of torn-apart books lied a small bottle of Felix Felicis with a hand-drawn birthday card attached to it.

“Luck seems to be the only thing you occasionally lack. Now, you’ll definitely have it all. With all our love, J, L and H.” said the inscription.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to leave kudos if you liked it or leave a comment (that would make my day!)
> 
> * English isn't my native language so if there are any mistakes, please, let me know. I would really appreciate it.  
> * If the text feels a bit like a patchwork it's because it is ;) Different parts of this fic have been lying around on my computer for years. In the beginning I was going to post it on 3 November 2018 (on Sirius' birthday).  
> * The original idea (oversleeping your own birthday because of the exams) is based on the real story that happened to my friend.


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